Adios amigos!

So today is my last day in Toledo. It seems like so little time has gone by...I can't believe I have spent 10 weeks here! It still hasn't really hit me that I am leaving today...I'm sure I will realize it later.

Today/tonight I am off to see Italy and Mary! I will fly into Florence and then Mary and I are catching a train to Verona to visit one of Dad's friends. I'll spend a few days there and do a side trip to Venice then head back to Florence for the rest of the time! I am very excited, but also a little nervous to travel by myself!

Wish me luck!

I had the best day ever. I’m not sure if it should take the number one day of my life, but it’s definitely top 5 material.

It started as a normal Monday. I went to school, had two classes. The first went by surprisingly fast and the second not as fast. The day really started at lunch. Sayto has met my friend Kerry before and invited her over to have lunch with us. We had a garbanzo bean soup for the first plate and a fried egg and meat/sausage mixture for the second. It was amazing. Then as if it couldn’t get any better, we had strawberries for dessert. Que buenisimo!

We then rested for a bit and Kerry and I did some of our homework. Then Sayto took us on a walk to see some things I never would have seen. It was kind of a rainy say, but it was great to walk with her and learn new things. We saw the Roman ruins that are by our house and a little mezquita where there is a leyenda toledana (like a myth or story specific to Toledo). We went inside and she told the leyenda. I’m not sure if I understood all of it, but I think I got the general idea. We then went to a store that has really nice touristy gifts for a cheaper price than most other places. It is perfect and I am definitely going to go back there to buy gifts for friends and family.

After that we went to a restaurant/bar that used to be a hotel for people with horses in the “ancient days” as Sayto said. It was the coolest place I have seen in Toledo. It is closed on Mondays, but we got to look inside because Sayto knows the owners and they were busy cleaning the place when we got there. It is pretty big for a bar. The owner said it turns into a discotec at night on Friday and Saturday and lots of locals go there. Definitely going there again too. I’m sad I didn’t know about this earlier.

After that came the best part of the day. I knew we were going to stop by to see a friend of Sayto’s because it was her birthday, but I did not expect what we walked in to. Apparently this woman is very rich – I think Sayto said she has a lot of property in Toledo. Anyway, we walked in to a beautiful, old house filled with tons of guests. Everyone was so nice and friendly and excited to talk. I gave “dos besos” to practically everyone that came and went. It was great. And as if that wasn’t enough, we had food! And sangria! The food was wonderful and we all shared it and talked and laughed. I think I understood almost everything. Then there was desert too which was very very good. As we were eating desert the women told jokes. Some of them I got and some of them I am not sure if I understood. But I know they were all dirty jokes…I think. Or racist jokes too. It was very funny and a little weird to hear 40, 50, 60 year old women telling dirty jokes in Spanish. Oh, and the grandmother was there too who I think is about 80 or 90 and has Alzheimer’s or something…

Anyway, I did not want any of it to end. But we left after dessert and a café con leche. Got home and saw the neighbors and chatted with them for a while. They said they were going to miss me! I am going to miss them more! What a great day!